Busy week

Sorry, you probably won't hear from me for the next week or so. I propose my thesis work to my committee on Thursday, Derby party on Saturday, and I take the NCAA test on Tuesday. I promise better posts in the not too distant future.

PhD Comics Explains the Problem of the "Cure" for Cancer

PhD Comics is a comic strip that's really popular amongst people in graduate school (particulaly the sciences) because it finds the humor in our lives, and the way people perceive them. The writer is actually has his PhD and started to pursue an career in academic research before he determined this to be a profitable endeavor. Interestingly, the prestigious journal Science recently did a profile of Piled Higher and Deeper (actual name) where I found out more about the author.

I appreciated the comic strip below because I often get frustrated when I hear people talking about finding a 'cure' for cancer. It leads me to believe that people lack proper understanding of cancer specifically and medicine/science in general. For reasons better than I can explain, the comic sums up why a 'cure' is a false goal.

If you get a chance, also look at this one here, making fun of how TV bastardizes what science can actually accomplish (and how fast). I feel this whenever I watch Bones and see them take a piece of tissue under the microscope and what appears is a perfect sectioned and stained tissue sample that would take me a minimum of 3 days to recreate (much more if I have to decalcify the bone)...

Back in my Off-Roading Days

t called me up today on info about the car I drove in high school and the modifications that were made.

Yeah, that's right, I assumed possession of my Mom's '87 Dodge Aries (k car). During high school I was the lead card in a 3 car accident (car rear ended car behind mine, who hit me), rendering the rear passenger side door unusable. While working at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant, I procured some 4x4 Off Road decals from their F250 and F350 lineups because I thought it would be funny. And yes, several people asked me if it was really 4x4 (no, it wasn't). By the end, it was getting more miles to the gallon of gas than quart of oil.

When I was a freshman in college, my oldest brother bought a new truck, gave me his old car (a '90 Cavalier) and traded in the Aries. He told the salesman "I have a 1987 3-door, 4x4 off road Dodge Aries." Apparently, the salesman didn't blink and asked "How many miles does it have?" I think we got like $100 for it...

Here's to you, the only 4x4 Off Road Aries Ever!!!

What to do in New Zealand when you're a geek...

Samsung Extreme Sheep LED Art
by sertanarig

Still love this commercial

Was going through my iTunes and came across Nick Drake's Pink Moon...



This would be me in high school, minus the beautiful ladies and the convertible... Why would anyone choose the drunken party?

Hopefully, he got the digits as well as the ball...

Skip to about 1:10ish.

If the neighborhood is too run down to sell houses...

...pay actors to play like everything is okay. j and I heard this story today on NPR's Marketplace.

Apparently large developments are paying actors to mow the lawns, run into the interested party playing the parts of 'lawyer with children' or whatever. My personal favorite is "They might invite their future neighbors to a Little League game. The teams are borrowed from another town..."

Borrowed from another town! That's great. I don't know how pissed I would be if I found out the truth later.

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Story #2: j and I went to a party this past weekend. The theme: 90s.

j's costume involved shoe polish and silk pajamas...






It is...






wait for it....








That's right, Left Eye from TLC (may she rest in peace). And yes, I realize that my Kris Kross shout out would be funnier had I had an Andre Rison jersey. "That D guy looks dangerous"

We also had a tournament bracket of 90's songs, set up as regions of Alternative, Rap/R&B, Dance, and Pop. If you can make it out, predictably "Smells Like Teen Spitit" won. I was trying to vote against it if the matchup was right but it never had a worthy adversary. More disturbing is that BBD's Poison was beat out by friggin Brittany Spears. I think it shows the age of the other people involved. There's no way anything BS ever said can compete with the advice "Never trust a big butt and a smile." What do these kids know anyway?